OUR  WORK 
ON 

THE  CONGO 


CATHARINE  L.  MABIE 


' :: 1 1 a i/i  ..i  a/: i>iA u  s  /  a 


••.*r  ..r-Af.  r.  -  j. 


Canoeing  on  the  Congo 


OUR  WORK 
ON  THE  CONGO 


A  Book  for  Mission  Study  Classes 
and  for  General  Information 


By 

CATHARINE  L.  MABIE,  M.  D. 


1917 


Prepared  for  the 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  FOREIGN  MISSION  SOCIETY 
and  the 

WOMAN’S  AMERICAN  BAPTIST  FOREIGN  MISSION  SOCIETY 


Published  by 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY 

PHILADELPHIA 

BOSTON  CHICAGO  ST.  LOUIS 

LOS  ANGELES  NEW  YORK  TORONTO 


Copyright  1917  by 
GUY  C.  LAMSON,  Secretary 


Published  July,  1917 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

I.  A  General  Survey  of  the  Field  .  i 

II.  The  People .  y 

III.  Religion  .  12 

IV.  Educational  Work  .  18 

V.  Medical  Work  .  23 

VI.  Is  It  Worth  While? .  30 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

Canoeing  on  the  Congo  . Frontispiece 

Preparing  the  evening  meal .  8 

Doctor  Mabie  telling  the  story  of  Jesus  to  a  group 
of  heathen  zvomen .  16 

The  beginning  of  a  school  in  the  bush .  20 

Doctor  Mabie  conducting  a  baby  clinic  at  Bans  a  Man- 
teke .  26 

"  The  Childrens  Hour,”  conducted  by  Doctor  Mabie 
zvhen  on  an  itineration .  32 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/ourworkoncongoOOmabi 


OUR  WORK 
ON  THE  CONGO 


CHAPTER  I 

A  General  Survey  of  the  Field 

The  American  Northern  Baptists’  African  mission 
work  lies  along  the  lower  stretches  of  the  mighty  Congo 
River,  and  for  the  most  part  within  Belgian  territory. 
Since  King  Leopold’s  death  and  the  conversion  of  the 
Congo  Independent  State  into  a  Belgian  colony  with  a 
responsible  government,  Belgian  rule  in  Central  Africa 
has  been  very  satisfactory. 

This  mission  was  born  of  the  intense  interest  awakened 
in  the  hearts  of  Harley  College  men,  England,  when  in 
the  late  seventies  Henry  M.  Stanley  traced  the  Congo 
River  on  the  map  of  Africa.  It  was  first  known  as  the 
Livingstone  Inland  Mission,  for  its  founders  dreamed  of 
a  chain  of  stations  which  should  soon  girdle  the  vast  con¬ 
tinent,  and  straightway  set  about  making  their  dream 
come  true.  However,  it  proved  far  more  difficult,  costly, 
and  distant  of  realization  than  had  been  anticipated,  and, 
for  various  reasons,  in  1884  they  transferred  their  alle- 


2 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


giance  from  a  British  to  an  American  management,  and 
became  the  Congo  Mission  of  the  American  Baptist  Mis¬ 
sionary  Union.  Of  the  old  guard  not  a  few  still  remain 
in  active  service,  as  Henry  Richards,  Joseph  and  Mrs. 
Clark,  Charles  Harvey,  Peter  Frederickson,  and  A.  Sims, 
M.  D.,  D.  P.  H. 

The  Congo  Mission  lies  just  under  and  a  little  south  of 
the  equator,  and  not  even  the  low-lying  hills  of  the  cata¬ 
ract  region  afford  any  relief  from  the  intense  heat  and 
humidity  with  their  swarms  of  mosquitoes,  tsetse  flies, 
and  other  pestiferous  insect  life,  in  whose  train  follow 
malarial,  sun,  and  other  pernicious  fevers,  sleeping  sick¬ 
ness,  dysentery,  and  other  deadly  endemic  diseases. 

As  steamers  sail,  the  mouth  of  the  Congo  lies  some 
eight  thousand  miles  from  our  Atlantic  seaboard,  and 
traveling  via  Europe  about  five  weeks  are  spent  en  route. 
Excellent  Belgian  and  French  boats  ply  between  Europe 
and  Matadi,  the  port  of  the  Congo.  At  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  sprawling  on  the  hot,  low-lying  sandy  beach,  blink¬ 
ing  under  the  coconut-palms  is  Banana,  a  little  trading 
port  where  our  missionaries  for  Mukimvika  disembark 
and  in  canoes  cross  the  wide  expanse  of  murky,  turbulent 
waters  to  the  southern  bank  of  the  river.  Mukimvika  lies 
within  Portuguese  territory,  and  is  one  of  our  oldest  and 
least  developed  fields.  Here  for  many  a  long  and  lonely 
year  Dr.  F.  P.  Lynch  has  labored  on,  often  quite  alone  for 
years  at  a  stretch,  ministering  to  Portuguese  and  natives 
alike,  where  twenty  years  ago  Mrs.  Lynch,  one  of  the 
most  gifted  and  gracious  of  Congo  missionaries,  laid 
down  her  life  for  Africa’s  redemption. 

On  leaving  Banana  the  ocean  steamer  goes  on  up  the 
river,  stopping  a  day  or  two  at  Boma,  the  capital,  some 


A  General  Survey  of  the  Field  3 

fifty  miles  inland,  and  missionaries  always  receive  a  warm 
welcome  from  the  Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance 
folk  who  have  their  base  station  here.  Another  fifty  miles 
and  the  long  steamer  voyage  is  ended  as  we  anchor  at 
Matadi,  above  which  navigation  is  interrupted  for  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  by  rapids  and  cataracts.  A 
little  toy  railroad  connects  Matadi  with  the  upper  river  at 
Leopoldville.  Express-trains  run  every  other  day,  and 
are  two  days  in  making  the  trip  of  about  two'  hundred 
and  fifty  miles.  Beyond  Leopoldville  the  river  is  again 
navigable  for  a  thousand  miles  for  large  river  boats  on 
to  Stanley  Falls. 

The  lower  river,  or  cataract  region  as  it  is  frequently 
called,  is  a  hill-country  without  roads,  because  it  is  with¬ 
out  beasts  of  burden  save  the  native  only,  who  carries  on 
his  head  such  burdens  as  must  needs  be  borne.  He  travels 
by  a  narrow,  stony  hill  trail,  plowing  through  elephant- 
grass  ten,  twelve,  to  sixteen  feet  tall,  fording  streams, 
hallooing  for  the  ferryman  with  his  dugout  canoe,  or 
clambering  up  onto  vine  bridges  swung  from  tree  to  tree 
across  swift,  turbulent  rivers ;  and  the  missionary  follows 
in  his  trail  afoot,  or  carried  in  a  canvas  hammock  swung 
from  a  bamboo  pole  carried  on  the  heads  of  a  couple  of 
natives.  Sometimes  nowadays  he  travels  in  a  one-wheeled 
push-cart  where  the  paths  are  somewhat  less  hilly.  This 
grass-land  abounds  in  wild  game — elephants,  buffalo, 
antelope,  wild  boar,  leopards.  Every  valley  with  its 
brook  or  river  is  a  lovely,  tangled  jungle,  cool  and  re¬ 
freshing  after  the  burning  heat  of  the  hill  trail.  The 
monkeys  and  parrots,  orchids,  water-lilies,  and  fern,  the 
soft  purl  of  shadowy,  rippling  waters,  all  tempt  the  hot, 
tired  traveler  to  loiter  overlong,  unmindful  of  the  weary 


4 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


hills  which  yet  remain  before  the  night’s  camp  can  be 
pitched. 

Within  the  cataract  region  we  have  six  stations : 
Matadi,  Palabala,  Banza  Manteke,  Lukunga,  Sona  Bata, 
and  Kimpese.  Matadi  is  our  base  station.  Here  the  in¬ 
defatigable  Doctor  Sims,  mission  treasurer  and  every¬ 
body’s  friend  in  time  of  need,  the  best-known  physician 
on  the  “  west  coast,”  resides.  Here  he  has  built  a  fine 
and  commodious  church  edifice  and  book-room,  and  has 
a  church-membership  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty. 
The  doctor  entertains  hundreds  of  passing  missionaries 
of  many  societies  as  they  enter  or  leave  the  Congo  and 
attends  to  all  their  many  needs,  and  conducts  a  large 
European  and  native  medical  practice,  besides  attending 
to  a  deal  of  other  mission  business. 

Above  Matadi,  less  than  three  hours  by  train  and 
steep  mountain  path,  Palabala  looks  down  upon  the  river 
and  the  hills.  Much  of  intensely  interesting  mission  his¬ 
tory  and  romance  gathers  about  Palabala’s  lofty  height. 
Elizabeth  Garland  Hall  has  made  its  more  recent  story 
familiar  to  many  an  American  audience. 

Banza  Manteke,  on  the  old  caravan  road,  is  within  a 
long  day’s  journey  from  Matadi,  three  and  a  half  hours 
by  rail  and  another  seven  or  eight  by  caravan  route.  It 
is  beautifully  situated  on  a  hill  overlooking  hills  and  more 
hills,  and  is  about  twelve  miles  from  the  Congo  River. 
The  name  of  Henry  Richards  must  ever  be  associated 
with  this  station ;  and  not  a  few  others  whose  names  are 
familiar  to  American  Baptists  have  shared  in  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  this  field.  In  our  plans  for  intensive  development 
it  is  purposed  to  center  educational  and  medical  work 
here  for  the  Palabala,  Banza  Manteke,  and  Lukunga  fields. 


A  General  Survey  of  the  Field  5 

Lukunga  lies  in  a  hot  and  lonely  valley  on  a  little  knoll 
not  far  from  the  juncture  of  the  Lukunga  and  Congo 
rivers.  It  is  best  reached  by  a  two  or  three  days’  caravan 
journey  from  Kimpese  on  the  railway  line.  In  the  old  days, 
when  the  caravan  road  was  the  only  highway  between  the 
lower  and  upper  river,  Lukunga  was  the  center  of  much 
activity,  both  governmental  and  missionary.  While  there 
are  not  now  many  people  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
station,  the  Lukunga  field,  which  lies  on  both  sides  of  the 
Congo  and  extends  well  over  onto  the  plateaus  of  the  Ban- 
gu  hills,  is  as  well  populated  and  certainly  quite  as  needy 
as  any  of  our  lower  Congo  districts.  A  good  boarding- 
school  for  boys  and  girls  is  conducted  in  the  station. 
Much  village  visitation,  desirable  in  all  districts,  is  im¬ 
perative  in  the  Lukunga  field.  The  names  of  Moody, 
Hill,  and  Bain  are  associated  with  this  station. 

Sona  Bata  lies  but  a  stone’s  throw  from  the  Congo 
Railway,  well  up  toward  Stanley  Pool.  It  has  an  exten¬ 
sive  and  but  partially  developed  field,  and  is  to  be  the  sec¬ 
ond  lower  river  center  for  educational  and  medical  work. 
It  already  has  a  good  boarding-school  and  considerable 
medical  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frederickson  have  long  la¬ 
bored  in  connection  with  this  field,  and  now  have  asso¬ 
ciated  with  them  the  McDiarmids  and  Geils. 

At  Kimpese,  a  hundred  miles  from  Matadi  on  the 
Congo  Railway,  is  located  the  Congo  Evangelical  Train¬ 
ing  Institution,  a  joint  school  established  by  the  English 
and  American  Baptists  in  1908  for  the  training  of  native 
preachers,  teachers,  and  leaders,  together  with  their 
families. 

At  Leopoldville,  on  Stanley  Pool,  we  have  a  very  at¬ 
tractive  mission  compound,  which  for  some  years  has 


6 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


been  occupied  by  the  Congo  Balolo  Mission.  Owing  to 
impending  changes  it  may  prove  desirable  in  the  near 
future  for  our  Society  to  reoccupy  Leopoldville.  It  is  the 
natural  connecting-link  between  our  lower  and  upper 
river  work,  and  the  most  convenient  station  for  annual 
conference  and  committee  meetings.  It  presents  a  desir¬ 
able,  though  limited,  field  for  evangelistic  and  Christian 
work  among  the  very  needy  and  shifting  population  em¬ 
ployed  by  the  various  European  industries  located  at 
Leopoldville. 

On  the  upper  river  we  have  Tshumbiri,  one  hundred 
and  seventy  miles  above  the  Pool,  where  for  many  years 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Billington  labored  most  effectively.  The 
Metzgers  and  Woods  are  now  in  charge  of  the  station. 

Ikoko,  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Mantumba,  is  seven  hun¬ 
dred  miles  inland  and  a  beehive  of  activity.  Its  new  site, 
Ntondo,  across  the  lake,  will  be  more  accessible  and  is  to 
have  a  fine  lot  of  brick  buildings,  and  will  be  a  thoroughly 
up-to-date  station  wherein  to  develop  native  leaders  for 
its  large  inland  territory.  To  speak  of  Ikoko  is  to  think 
of  its  genial  founder  Joseph  Clark. 

And  last,  but  not  least,  is  our  newest  station,  Yanga, 
opened  by  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Leslie  in  1913.  Vanga  is 
reached  by  a  comfortable  steamer  trip  of  a  week  from 
Stanley  Pool  via  the  Congo,  Kasai,  and  Kwilu  rivers.  In 
a  cannibal  district  but  slightly  subdued  as  yet  by  the 
State,  our  missionaries  have  traveled  freely  among  the 
native  towns,  and  have  succeeded  in  gathering  a  couple 
of  hundred  boys  into  a  station  boarding-school.  They 
have  large  native  congregations,  both  at  the  station  ser¬ 
vices  and  when  out  itinerating. 


I 


CHAPTER  II 
The  People 

The  people  among  whom  we  work  in  Congoland  are 
Negroes,  and  belong  to  the  great  Bantu  tribe  which,  with 
its  migratory  habits,  extends  from  the  Camaroons  to  Zu- 
luland.  The  country  is  not  heavily  populated.  Slave  and 
rubber  raids,  witchcraft  exposures  and  executions,  sleep¬ 
ing  sickness  and  other  pernicious  endemic  diseases,  gross 
ignorance  and  superstition,  have  all  taken  their  heavy  toll. 
Infant  mortality  is  appallingly  high. 

The  people  are  reddish  black  and  rather  undersized.  In 
their  native  state  they  wear  next  to'  nothing,  but  smear 
their  bodies  a  dull  red  with  a  powdered  camwood  paste, 
the  women  adding  a  string  or  two  of  bright-colored  beads, 
huge  brass  collars  and  anklets,  or  spiral  brass  leg  and 
arm  ornaments,  bracelets  of  various  styles,  and  ear  orna¬ 
ments.  Both  men  and  women  indulge  in  elaborate  coif¬ 
fures  and  tribal  tattooing,  and  file  their  front  teeth  to 
sharp  points.  The  men  are  fond  of  ivory  bracelets,  and 
frequently  wear  a  bit  of  fur,  a  trophy  of  a  hunting  or 
trapping  venture. 

Equipped  with  bow  and  arrows,  or  possibly  a  gun,  a 
big  knife  thrust  into  his  belt,  the  buck  strides  on  down 
the  trail,  followed  at  a  respectful  distance  by  his  woman 
carrying  her  lord’s  effects,  the  baby,  and  the  family  sup¬ 
plies.  He  hunts  and  fishes  and  palavers  by  day,  dances 
and  drinks  and  boasts  by  night.  He  builds  his  house  of 

7 


8 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


bamboo  or  mud,  thatching  it  with  grass  or  palm  fronds. 
On  the  upper  river  it  may  be  a  long,  low  house,  in  which 
under  one  roof  live  his  various  wives.  Down  country 
each  wife  usually  has  her  own  little  hut.  The  upper  coun¬ 
try  is  low,  flat,  and  marshy,  and  the  villages  are  oftenest 
reached  by  canoe,  while  on  the  lower  river  winding  trails 
seek  out  the  towns  under  the  palm  and  mango  tree. 

Pigs,  goats,  fowls,  fleas,  chiggers,  cockroaches,  lice, 
mosquitoes,  tsetse  flies,  mongrel  curs,  and  other  vermin 
infest  the  native  towns,  and  the  mud-houses  are  worse 
than  the  more  porous  and  dry  grass-house.  The  gardens 
are  cultivated  at  a  distance,  and  the  women  and  girls 
spend  most  of  their  time  in  the  valley  gardens,  where 
they  raise  manioc,  yams,  sweet  potatoes,  beans,  bush  peas, 
squash,  and  peanuts.  All  the  preparation  for  gardening, 
the  cultivating,  and  harvesting  is  hand  work,  with  no  bet¬ 
ter  tools  than  little  short-handled  hoes.  Grass  and  weeds 
are  prolific,  and  much  weeding  is  necessary.  Monkeys, 
insects,  and  elephants  often  destroy  the  gardens.  On  the 
lower  river,  where  habits  of  industry,  division  of  labor, 
and  the  wearing  of  clothes  are  beginning  to  prevail,  the 
men  now  cultivate  banana  and  plantain  gardens,  raise  all 
the  corn  and  sugar-cane,  and  gather  the  zinsafu  and  palm- 
nuts,  hunt  and  fish  and  carpenter,  and  do  the  family  sew¬ 
ing  on  hand  Singer  sewing-machines.  Instead  of  engage¬ 
ment  rings  the  boys  give  their  fiancees  dresses  of  their 
own  making. 

When  the  first  rains  come  the  children  gather  quantities 
of  delicious  mushrooms,  and  crouching  in  threes  and 
fours  about  tiny  holes  in  the  earth,  gather  little  pots  of 
tiny  winged  white  ants  for  supper.  When  the  rains  are 
over  and  the  grass  fire  is  on,  the  children  all  go  a  ratting, 


Preparing  the  evening  meal.  Note  flour-sieve  in  center,  like  tall  basket 


The  People 


9 


and  hundreds  of  field-rats  will  be  roasting  on  spits  about 
the  evening  fires.  Boa-constrictor  steaks,  monkey  stew, 
venison,  buffalo,  and  wild  boar  are  choice  viands.  The 
riverine  people  live  largely  on  manioc  and  fish,  with  an 
occasional  feast  of  hippo  meat.  Manioc,  or  cassava,  is  a 
staple  throughout  the  country,  This  is  a  root,  bitter  or 
sweet  according  to  variety.  The  bitter  is  much  more  com¬ 
mon,  and  is  soaked  for  several  days  preferably  in  running 
water  until  the  bitter  is  extracted.  Then  the  manioc  is 
dried,  and  in  mortars  made  of  hardwood  logs  is  pounded 
into  flour,  sifted,  mortared,  sifted  and  mortared  until  it  is 
finely  powdered.  The  flour  is  then  sifted  into  boiling 
water  and  made  into  a  stiff  mush,  which  is  then  worked 
into  little  balls.  These  are  dipped  into  a  palm-oil,  highly 
peppered  gravy,  and  tossed  down  the  throat  without 
chewing.  An  unleavened,  sourish  bread  is  also  made  of 
manioc,  and  various  mixtures  of  peanuts,  leaves,  corn- 
meal,  and  cassava  are  wrapped  in  leaves  and  steamed 
much  like  Mexican  tamales.  Nearly  all  foods  are  cooked, 
and  much  time  is  spent  in  preparing  the  evening  meal, 
the  principal  one  of  the  day.  A  relish  made  of  squash- 
seed  meats,  ground  to  a  paste  and  seasoned  with  red 
pepper  and  spicy  leaves,  is  very  popular. 

The  women  mold  and  fire  their  own  pottery,  and  make 
baskets  similar  in  form  and  decoration  to  those  of  our 
American  Indians.  The  men  weave  grass-cloth  and  make 
grass  and  reed  mats,  and  also  bamboo  beds  for  themselves. 
The  women  and  children  sleep  on  mats  on  the  earthen 
floor.  The  people  are  fond  of  bathing,  and  the  babies  al¬ 
ways  have  their  early  morning  baths.  In  a  lower  Congo 
village,  as  the  sun  comes  above  the  horizon  about  six  of  a 
morning,  dozens  of  mothers  can  be  seen  holding  their 


10 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


babies  by  one  arm  outside  the  house  door,  each  pouring 
cold  water  from  a  big,  black  water-bottle  over  the  kinky 
head  and  shapely,  little  body,  then  scrubbing  away  with 
the  other  hand,  and  then  giving  another  deluge  from  the 
black  bottle  until  baby  is  sweet  and  clean.  While  on  the 
upper  river  some  years  ago  I  saw  a  riverine  mother  with 
an  infant  three  or  four  months  old,  which  she  was  hold¬ 
ing  by  one  arm  and  plunging  completely  under  the  water. 
I  counted  nineteen  immersions ;  the  poor  little  tad  spit, 
and  sputtered,  and  finally,  all  but  breathless,  was  tied  on 
its  mother's  broad  hips,  and  disappeared  into  the  bush. 

Polygamy  prevails,  and  the  chiefs  and  headmen  have 
large  harems.  The  price  of  wives  often  makes  it  impossi¬ 
ble  for  the  young  men  to  secure  suitable  women  or,  in¬ 
deed,  any  at  all.  An  exchange  of  girls  in  settlement  of 
debts  is  common.  A  man  “  borrows  ”  his  wife,  giving  in 
payment  goats,  sheep,  plantains,  peanuts,  cloth,  palm- 
wine,  service — whatever  is  agreed  upon  between  his 
family  and  the  woman’s.  He  is  usually  years  in  complet¬ 
ing  his  payments.  His  children  belong  to  the  woman’s 
family,  and  in  case  of  her  death,  or  a  decree  of  separa¬ 
tion,  return  to  the  mother’s  people.  They  always  speak 
of  their  maternal  uncles  as  “  zimfumu,”  or  chiefs,  and  it 
is  disrespectful  to  speak  a  chief’s  name.  A  woman  never 
calls  or  speaks  of  her  husband  by  name.  She  says,  “  nkaz’ 
ami,”  my  husband.  Child  marriage  prevails  in  some  dis¬ 
tricts,  but  in  the  lower  Congo  the  girls  are  usually  from 
twelve  to  fourteen  when  they  leave  their  fathers’  huts  for 
those  of  their  husbands.  Bethrothal  in  babyhood  is  com¬ 
mon,  however,  and  affords  considerable  protection  to  a 
girl.  They  have  their  own  codes  of  morality.  Wherever 
there  is  much  palm-wine  and  drunkenness  the  moral  tone 


The  People 


ii 


is  lacking,  while  in  some  districts  it  is  fairly  good  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  own  standards. 

These  dusky  children  of  the  night  are  passionately  fond 
of  the  moon,  which  they  think  of  as  masculine.  His  wo¬ 
man  is  the  evening  star.  The  children  are  eager  for  the 
first  faint  appearance  of  the  new  moon  and  greet  him  with 
shouts  of  joy,  passing  the  glad  word  on  over  the  hills 
from  town  to  town.  When  the  glorious  light  of  the  full 
moon  enfolds  the  grimy  little  village  in  its  mysterious 
beauty,  there  is  little  sleep  if  the  town  be  a  heathen  one. 
All  night,  hour  after  hour,  the  dance  is  on,  accompanied 
by  the  weird,  monotonous  cadences  of  chanting  voices. 
Code  messages  are  sent  from  town  to  town  on  the  great 
war-drums.  Palm-wine  flows  freely,  and  the  sensuous 
holds  sway.  If  the  town  be  a  Christian  one  there  will  be 
no  dancing  or  drinking,  no  wild  abandon  to  the  lusts  of 
the  flesh,  but  order  and  decency  prevailing.  Perhaps  as 
the  silvery  light,  so  brilliant  in  the  tropical  heavens  that 
it  dims  all  but  the  southern  cross  and  a  few  of  the 
mightier  host  above,  filters  down  through  the  palms,  one 
will  hear  hymns  of  praise  arising  from  shadowy  groups 
here  and  there,  making  melody  in  their  heart  because  the 
God  of  love  has  delivered  them  from  the  old  haunting  fear 
of  the  evil  which  prowls  by  night  nor  halts  his  destruc¬ 
tion  by  day. 


B 


CHAPTER  III 


Religion 


In  religion  the  Congos  are  animists.  All  nature,  includ¬ 
ing  human  nature,  is  peopled  with  spirits.  Spirits  of  their 
own  dead,  spirits  that  never  were  embodied,  spirits  good 
and  spirits  bad,  a  great  spirit  probably  ancestral  whom 
they  call  Nzambi,  the  creator — in  dire  straits  they  may  call 
upon  him,  not  knowing  whether  he  hears  or  cares ;  then 
there’s  Mbungi,  the  prince  of  evil  spirits,  the  destroyer. 
Compassed  about  with  so  numberless  a  host  of  jealous, 
vengeful  spirits  lurking  everywhere,  all  their  lifetime 
the  people  are  subject  to  a  bondage  of  fear.  The  first 
great  triumph  of  the  gospel  is  emancipation  from  this 
fearfulness. 

The  spirits  of  their  own  dead  are  perhaps  the  most 
constant  menace.  Whenever  death  occurs  bedlam  is  let 
loose.  With  wild  shrieking,  shrill  wailing,  and  mad  howl¬ 
ing  and  moaning  till  voices  are  exhausted,  throwing  dust 
into  the  air,  covering  their  bodies  with  mud,  the  relatives 
give  themselves  up  to  an  orgy  of  mourning.  Bands  of 
chanting  women  sit  hour  on  hour  about  the  corpse,  charg¬ 
ing  the  departed  to  be  content  where  he  has  gone.  Did 
he  not  have  his  full  share  of  the  good  things  of  this  life 
while  with  them?  Food  for  the  journey,  cloth,  his  cher¬ 
ished  possessions,  his  wives  and  slaves  also,  before  the 
coming  of  the  white  man  prevented,  would  all  be  sent  with 
him  as  his  credentials  and  companions  in  the  spirit  world. 


12 


Religion 


13 


The  body  would  be  wrapped  in  many  yards  of  cloth, 
sometimes  in  a  sitting  posture  until  it  looked  like  a  great 
bale  of  cotton.  If  a  chief  or  headman,  burial  was  often 
delayed  for  many  months,  the  body  being  entrenched  in 
the  house  and  the  wives  sitting  all  day  week  after  week, 
month  after  month  surrounding  it,  stealthily  sneaking  out 
after  dark  in  search  of  food.  At  the  final  burial  food  and 
personal  belongings,  broken  to  loose  the  soul  stufiF,  are 
placed  in  and  upon  the  grave.  In  the  early  days  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  rescued  more  than  one  poor  human  victim  who, 
partially  buried  with  the  dead,  was  left  to  slow  death  from 
starvation  and  exhaustion.  Gunpowder  is  fired  at  fre¬ 
quent  intervals  over  the  grave  to  speed  the  departing 
spirit  loth  to  set  out  on  the  great  adventure,  and  again 
and  again  he  is  charged  not  to  return  to  his  former  haunts. 
His  house  is  immediately  burned  lest,  hovering  about  the 
town,  he  return  and  haunt  it.  Probably  their  notion  of 
the  duration  of  the  life  beyond  is  limited  and  conditioned 
by  the  faithfulness  of  one’s  descendants  in  remembering. 

The  souls  of  little  children  are  like  caged  birds  unaccus¬ 
tomed  to  confinement,  and  unkindness  or  punishment  may 
result  in  sickness  or  the  death  of  the  child.  There  is  no 
word  for  discipline  in  their  vocabulary.  The  old  men 
said  of  the  first  missionaries,  “  They  are  not  really  people, 
but  the  reembodied  spirits  of  our  dead,”  and  so  frequently 
called  them  “  tata,”  father,  or  “  nguan  kazi,”  uncle.  The 
first  converts  who  submitted  to  baptism  were  believed  to 
have  put  themselves  under  the  spell  of  the  missionary, 
and  it  was  thought  they  would  soon  die  and  be  trans¬ 
ported  to  his  country  as  his  slaves.  A  boy  from  a  heathen 
district  had  been  in  the  station  at  Banza  Manteke  for 
some  months  and  still  seemed  timid  and  half  afraid  of  us. 


14 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


One  day,  upon  seeing  some  photographs  of  my  family  and 
some  food  and  clothing  which  they  had  sent  me,  he  sur¬ 
prised  me  greatly  by  saying,  “  Then  you  really  are  peo¬ 
ple?”  When  the  natives  at  Kwilu  learned  that  Mrs. 
Leslie  had  left  her  children  at  home  in  order  to  come  and 
acquaint  them  with  God’s  love,  they  naively  asked  if  she 
had  left  them  with  God,  and  probably  only  when  another 
child  was  born  to  the  missionaries  were  they  quite  con¬ 
vinced  that  they  were  flesh-and-blood  folk  like  themselves. 

Most  of  their  religious  observances  are  propitiatoiy,  or 
intended  to  block  the  spirits  in  their  evil  designs.  Re¬ 
membering  and  feeding  the  family  dead  is  a  religious 
duty.  There  are  two  common  methods  of  warding  off  or 
combating  spirit  interference ;  fetishes  serve  for  all  or¬ 
dinary  purposes,  for  serious  cases  exorcism  and  the  de¬ 
tection  and  trial  by  poison  or  other  ordeal  of  witches.  A 
fetish  is  not  an  idol  unless  one  accepts  a  very  simple  defi¬ 
nition  of  an  idol  as  being  anything  to  which  power  is 
attributed  when  it  has  no  intrinsic  powrer,  as  a  horse- 
chestnut  carried  in  the  vest  pocket  to  ward  off  or  cure 
rheumatism.  A  fetish  is  a  little  shield  with  which  to  fend 
and  ward  off  machinations  of  malign  spirits.  Each  fetish 
is  so  limited  in  its  power,  and  so  liable  to  lose  its  own  pe¬ 
culiar  potency,  that  one  needs  almost  as  many  to  get 
safely  through  life’s  dangers  as  the  medieval  knight 
needed  links  in  his  coat  of  mail.  To  the  sorely  pressed, 
illy  armored  animist  just  emerging  from  the  fog  of 
spiritualism,  how  comforting  is  David’s  characterization 
of  God  as  his  “  strength,  a  sun  and  a  shield,”  and  so  as 
Christ’s  ambassadors  we  entreat  them  to  be  reconciled  to 
God,  Nzambi,  their  shield  and  defender,  the  Ancient  of 
Days. 


Religion 


15 


Witches  abounded.  Whenever  serious  illness  or  death 
occurred  a  witch-doctor  was  sent  for,  who  by  his  fa¬ 
miliarity  with  the  spirits  determined  who  had  bewitched 
the  patient.  Often  a  whole  clan  or  town  would  be  ac¬ 
cused,  and  ordeal  by  poison  would  determine  the  guilty 
parties,  and  their  execution  would  have  been  accom¬ 
plished  at  one  and  the  same  time.  All  who  died  were 
without  question  guilty. 

The  gospel  of  God’s  grace  as  revealed  in  the  death, 
burial,  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  has  again  proved  itself, 
even  among  this  degraded  people,  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  every  one  who  believeth.  When  confronted 
with  God’s  law  they  said,  It  is  good,  we  know,  and  not 
infrequently  in  self-righteousness  we  do  these  things. 
But  when  the  Lord  from  heaven,  Mary’s  (the  sister’s) 
son,  looked  into  their  accusing  consciences  from  Cal¬ 
vary’s  cross  they  bowed  their  hearts,  confessing  their 
sins,  acknowledging  his  authority  over  their  lives,  and  in 
the  light  of  his  word  many  to-day  are  walking  in  new¬ 
ness  of  life. 

Abstinence  from  heathen  customs — as  the  resorting 
to  fetishes  and  exorcism  in  sickness,  drinking,  dancing, 
polygamy,  intermarriage  with  the  heathen,  and  many  other 
objectionable  practices — greater  cleanliness,  the  wearing 
of  clothing,  a  new  attitude  toward  women,  and  the  assum¬ 
ing  of  Christian  responsibilities  are  some  of  the  outward 
signs  of  the  new  life.  Not  infrequently  the  Christian  de¬ 
scending  into  the  dark  valley  finds  it  aglow  and  tells  his 
family  and  friends  that  Jesus  is  waiting  for  him.  When 
life’s  candle  flickers  out  they  say,  “  He  has  gone  up.  He 
sleeps.  He  has  gone  to  be  with  his  Lord.”  Their  grief 
is  much  quieter  and  when,  with  a  prayer  and  Christian 


16  Our  Work  on  the  Congo 

hymn,  the  body  is  consigned  to  the  dust  until  the  resur¬ 
rection  morning,  they  sorrow  not  as  the  heathen,  believing 
that  the  departed  spirit  is  homed  in  God’s  love  rather  than 
hovering  about  its  old  abode  harming  those  for  whom  it 
once  cared. 

The  first  converts  became  zealous  evangelists  and  went 
about  from  town  to  town  telling  the  gospel  story,  and 
many  believed  and  turned  to  God  from  fetishism.  Singly 
or  by  twos,  frequently  all  the  Christians  in  a  village  would 
take  their  food  and  go  off  for  a  several  days’  evangelistic 
tour.  Not  a  few  of  the  early  believers  suffered  death  for 
their  new  faith.  The  most  promising  young  men  were 
brought  to  the  mission  station  for  a  few  months’,  possibly 
a  year’s  teaching,  and  were  then  set  apart  as  evangelists 
and  were  sent  out  to  start  village  schools  and  preach  the 
word.  At  other  stations  children  were  gathered  into 
boarding-schools,  and  after  several  years’  training  were 
sent  back  to  their  towns  to  spread  the  news.  At  a  certain 
up-river  station  a  bushboy,  after  being  in  the  station 
school  but  a  year  or  so,  returned  to  his  far-inland  town. 
He  carried  home  a  Gospel  of  John,  and  sitting  outside  his 
hut  reading  it  attracted  the  attention  of  the  village  black¬ 
smith,  who  succeeded  in  learning  to  read  and  write  from 
his  boy  teacher.  Soon  after  the  villagers  refused  to 
gather  rubber  for  King  Leopold’s  soldiers;  the  village 
was  destroyed  and  many  killed.  The  blacksmith  escaped, 
and  after  subsisting  for  many  days  on  such  food  as  the 
forest  offered,  found  himself  on  the  banks  of  a  beautiful 
lake  and  among  a  people  speaking  another  dialect.  He 
stayed  with  them  and  told  them  the  gospel  story  so  far 
as  he  knew  it.  A  year  or  two  later  a  missionary  visited 
the  lake  district  and  found  a  number  of  believers,  who 


Doctor  Mabie  telling  the  story  of  Jesus  to  a  group  of  heathen  women 


Religion 


i  7 


after  further  instruction  were  baptized.  Even  so  the 
Lord  multiplied  the  lad’s  few  loaves  and  fishes. 

Missionary  itineration  is  a  very  fruitful  form  of  evan¬ 
gelism  and  most  necessary  for  the  edification  and  nurture 
of  the  Congo  church.  In  this  form  of  missionary  en¬ 
deavor  the  missionary  comes  into  the  most  intimate  and 
personal  touch  with  the  people  in  their  village  life.  He 
listens  to  their  experiences,  counsels  and  guides  them  in 
their  many  difficulties  in  the  new  life,  further  instructs 
them  in  the  word,  ministers  to  their  sick,  and  in  many 
ways  makes  himself  of  service  to  them. 

The  Congo  country  is  not  a  white  man’s  country,  and 
the  necessity  of  raising  up  a  trained  native  leadership  is 
imperative.  With  this  end  in  view,  the  Congo  Evangeli¬ 
cal  Training  Institution  was  established  at  Kimpese  a  few 
years  ago  and  gives  promise  of  accomplishing  that  for 
which  it  was  instituted.  A  goodly  number  of  its  gradu¬ 
ates  are  serving  the  churches  very  acceptably.  “  The 
harvest  truly  is  great,  but  the  laborers  are  few.  Pray  ye 
therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  send  forth  more 
laborers  into  his  vineyard.” 


CHAPTER  IV 


Educational  Work 

The  Bantu  tribes  are  a  people  without  a  history,  never 
having  committed  to  writing  the  fine  language  of  which 
they  are  justly  proud.  Many  migrations  have  given 
rise  to  many  dialects,  but  all  bear  unmistakable  evidence 
of  a  common  origin,  and  among  the  widely  dispersed 
Bantu  folk,  from  the  Camaroons  to  Zululand,  no  tie  is  so 
strong  as  that  of  language  affinity. 

When  the  Congo  missionary  came  to  dwell  among  them 
he  learned  their  language,  wrote  it  phonetically  in  Roman 
characters,  and  straightway  set  about  teaching  the  na¬ 
tives  to  read  and  write  it.  The  chiefs  and  headmen  had 
sought  to  keep  the  language  measurably  pure  by  care¬ 
fully  training  their  nephews  and  a  few  chosen  boys, 
whose  vocabulary  and  speech  were  superior  to  the  ordi¬ 
nary  native,  and  the  missionary  always  sought  such  boys 
as  language  teachers.  Not  only  a  vocabulary  but  a 
grammar  had  to  be  acquired  by  carefully  listening  to  the 
native  speech  ;  and  in  the  early  days,  whenever  missionary 
met  missionary,  language  discoveries,  comparisons,  de¬ 
bates,  and  disputes  were  sure  to  be  the  fruitful  theme  of 
conversation.  Sometimes  a  missionary  with  a  good  deal 
of  imagination  would  read  into-  a  word  not  only  his  own, 
but  the  sense  of  several  synonyms  of  its  English  equiva¬ 
lent,  as  nlongo,  “  taboo,  forbidden,”  which  by  this  method 
came  to  be  “  sacred,  holy  ”  in  the  white  man’s  version. 
18 


Educational  Work 


19 


The  most  difficult  problem  which  the  African  missionary 
meets  is  that  of  approximating  the  native  thought-plane, 
of  thinking  native  thoughts  in  native  words  rather  than 
projecting  his  own  concepts  into  those  words.  The  verb 
is  the  principal  word  of  the  language,  and  is  very  highly 
inflected.  There  are  eight  classes  of  nouns.  The  lan¬ 
guage  is  rendered  euphonious  by  a  system  of  concordant 
prefixes.  Three  societies  have  been  at  work  in  the  lower 
Congo  country,  where  but  a  single  dialect  is  spoken  over 
a  large  area.  They  have  compiled  two  dictionaries  and 
grammars,  two  translations  of  the  Bible,  three  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  a  number  of  school-books.  Much 
more  should  be  done  along  this  line  in  the  immediate 
future.  Vanga  plans  to  do  its  educational  work  in  the 
lower  Congo  dialect.  Each  of  our  upper-river  stations 
has  a  dialect  peculiar  to  its  own  district. 

In  Belgian  Congo  the  government  has  attempted  noth¬ 
ing  educationally,  so  all  has  devolved  upon  the  mission¬ 
ary.  From  the  beginning  two  methods  have  been  em¬ 
ployed  which  might  be  differentiated  as  the  evangelistic 
and  boarding-school  methods.  The  first  was  that  of  first 
gathering  a  few  converts  and,  after  instructing  them 
somewhat  in  the  rudiments  of  Christianity  and  the 
“  three  Rs,”  sending  them  out  as  evangelists  and  teachers 
to  whatsoever  towns  would  receive  them.  Their  more 
virile  and  promising  converts  were  in  turn  brought  to  the 
mission  station  for  a  few  months,  or  possibly  a  year,  of 
instruction  before  being  sent  out  on  similar  missions. 
Schools  would  be  established  in  the  towns,  and  for  an 
hour  or  two  each  morning  old  and  young  would  be  sitting- 
on  the  earthen  floor  of  a  grass  schoolhouse  struggling 
with  the  charts  and  slates.  Scripture  would  be  read  and 


20 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


expounded  and  prayer  offered.  These  men  usually  mag¬ 
nified  their  calling  as  evangelists  and  Bible  teachers 
rather  than  as  school-teachers.  This  method  could  not  be 
expected  to  develop  efficient  teachers. 

Under  the  boarding-school  method  children  were  gath¬ 
ered  as  soon  as  possible  into  station  schools,  where  they 
received  careful  instruction  in  Scripture  and  common- 
school  branches  for  several  years  under  constant  mission¬ 
ary  supervision.  Most  of  the  children  professed  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ  while  in  the  schools,  and  on  returning  to 
their  towns  told  the  story  and  assisted  in  the  education 
of  the  villagers.  School  children  frequently  married  and 
established  Christian  homes.  Both  methods  are  good  so 
far  as  they  go,  and  after  converts  begin  to  multiply  both 
may  well  be  employed  simultaneously  at  the  same  station. 
Banza  Manteke  and  Tshumbiri  have  been  developed 
under  the  former,  Ikoko  and  Vanga  under  the  second, 
and  both  have  prevailed  in  the  Sona  Bata  field.  Both 
have  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  village  schools  in 
practically  all  towns  where  there  are  Christians,  but  most 
of  these  schools  have  never  advanced  beyond  a  low  pri¬ 
mary  grade,  with  the  result  that  the  keen  interest  of  the 
earlier  days,  when  the  whole  family  went  to  school,  has 
flagged.  To-day  the  crying  need  of  the  village  schools  is 
the  enthusiastic,  trained  teacher.  Indeed,  he  is  imperative 
if  the  Congo  church  is  to  be  a  strong,  self-propagating 
body. 

At  Kimpese  we  have  established  an  educational  center 
for  the  development  of  native  preachers,  teachers,  and 
leaders.  Training  is  also  provided  for  their  wives  and 
children,  the  attendance  of  whom  is  compulsory.  The 
children  form  the  practice  school  for  the  normal  depart- 


The  beginning  of  a  school  in  the  bush 


Educational  Work 


21 


ment  of  the  institution.  Kimpese  is  located  on  a  knoll 
within  a  rolling  valley  at  the  foot  of  the  beautiful  Bangu 
hills,  along  whose  base  flows  the  Lukunga  River,  and  is 
about  a  hundred  miles  above  Matadi  on  the  Congo  Rail¬ 
way.  Three  good  missionary  residences  have  been  built 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  faculty,  which  consists  of 
Rev.  Thomas  Powell,  B.  A.,  B.  D.,  Rev.  S.  E.  Moon, 
B.  A.,  B.  D.,  their  wives,  and  Doctor  Mabie.  Two  corru¬ 
gated-iron,  grass-thatched  sheds  occupy  the  site  where 
it  is  proposed  to  build  three  main  buildings  of  the  insti¬ 
tution  as  soon  as  the  necessary  money  is  in  hand.  For 
nine  years  these  hot  and  altogether  inadequate  iron  sheds 
have  served  the  institution  as  classrooms  and  chapel. 
The  student  quarters  down  below  consist  of  semidetached 
brick  houses,  each  accommodating  two  families.  Each 
apartment  has  its  garden-plot  in  the  rear,  and  large  plan¬ 
tain  and  manioc  gardens  are  cultivated  farther  afield. 

For  three  years  we  have  the  whole  family  under  cul¬ 
tivation  spiritually,  mentally,  and  physically,  under  con¬ 
ditions  approximating  the  ideal.  Kimpese  is  a  little 
Christian  community  segregated  for  purposes  of  intensive 
development.  From  six-thirty  in  the  morning  until  noon 
classes  for  both  men  and  women  are  held.  The  after¬ 
noons  are  devoted  to  industrial  training,  gardening,  and 
the  children’s  school,  wherein  the  students  receive  practi¬ 
cal  instruction  in  methods  of  teaching.  The  evenings  are 
spent  in  study,  and  curfew  rings  at  nine.  Thorough 
courses  in  Old  and  New  Testament,  a  little  general  and 
church  history,  elementary  mathematics  and  science,  phys¬ 
iology  and  hygiene,  and  practical  pedagogy  are  provided 
for  the  men. 

The  women  are  in  school  three  hours  a  day,  and  are 


22 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


allowed  a  nurse-boy  or  girl  to  care  for  the  babies  during 
schooltime.  We  try  to  make  them  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  story  of  Jesus,  also  some  of  the  Old  Testament 
stories,  so  that  they  may  tell  them  to  the  women  and  chil¬ 
dren  in  their  towns.  They  have  reading,  writing,  and 
simple  arithmetic,  and  are  able  to  assist  in  the  conduct 
of  the  village  schools  when  they  return  to  their  towns. 
Instruction  in  the  care  and  training  of  their  children,  and 
in  the  privileges  and  duties  incident  to  Christian  wife¬ 
hood,  motherhood,  community,  and  church-membership 
is  given.  The  broadened  outlook  on  life,  the  new  per¬ 
sonal  responsibilities  which  enlightenment  brings,  a  new 
comradeship  in  the  husband’s  life  and  work,  are  among 
the  worth-while  results  which  are  beginning  to  appear 
among  the  women  trained  at  Kimpese,  and  the  institution 
promises  much  for  the  future  development  of  the  Congo 
churches. 

The  Congo  Conference  has  recommended  that  board¬ 
ing-schools  of  grammar  grade  be  established  at  Banza 
Manteke,  Sona  Bata,  Ikoko,  and  Vanga,  and  the  Wo¬ 
man’s  Board  is  now  seeking  six  trained  teachers  to  go 
out  in  the  immediate  future  to  assist  in  the  development 
and  conduct  of  such  schools.  It  is  commonly  thought  that 
anybody,  however  inadequately  trained,  provided  only 
that  he  is  zealous,  may  be  sent  to  work  among  so  primi¬ 
tive  a  people  as  the  natives  of  Central  Africa.  In  the 
homeland  we  set  our  best-equipped  educators  the  difficult 
task  of  training  the  backward  and  deficient.  We  can  af¬ 
ford  to  do  no  less  when  we  send  teachers  to  the  Congo. 


CHAPTER  V 


Medical  Work 

The  Congo  knows  very  little  about  anatomy,  and  has 
no  sane  notions  whatever  concerning  physiology,  hygiene, 
pathology,  or  therapeutics.  With  his  animistic  notions 
he  attributes  all  his  physical  and  mental  ailments  to  spirit 
interference  through  an  intermediary  or  to  direct  inter¬ 
position.  In  dreams  his  own  spirit  wanders  apart  from 
the  body,  and  if  too  rudely  awakened  may  fail  to  return. 
To  dream  of  the  dead  gives  rise  to  great  anxiety,  and 
much  importance  is  attached  to  interpretation  of  dreams. 
Whenever  serious  illness  occurs,  the  person  bewitching 
the  patient  is  sought,  and  before  the  white  man  interfered 
trial  of  witches  was  frequent  and  usually  fatal.  Delirium 
is  greatly  feared ;  another  spirit  than  the  sufferer's  is  in 
possession  and  speaking  strange  things.  Epileptic  seiz¬ 
ures,  insanity,  and  all  mental  aberrations  are  diagnosed 
as  due  to  direct  spirit  possession.  Witch-doctors  and 
fetishes  were  their  chief  reliance  in  sickness. 

A  few  native  drugs  and  concoctions  are  used  with 
more  or  less  skill,  principally  less.  Accidental  poisoning 
through  overdosage  is  common.  Scarifying  and  blister¬ 
ing,  red  pepper  and  other  irritants  blown  up  the  nostrils 
and  into  the  eyes,  plasters  compounded  of  leaves  and  mud, 
are  frequently  resorted  to.  As  the  crisis  approaches, 
pneumonia  patients  are  often  drenched  with  cold  water. 
Aching  teeth  are  dug  out,  abscesses  evacuated  with  sharp- 

23 


24 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


ened  sticks,  and  bloodletting  is  a  favorite  treatment  for 
fevers. 

Into  this  maze  of  ignorance,  superstition,  and  fear  has 
come  the  medical  missionary  with  his  marvelous  power  to 
alleviate  pain  and  suffering,  with  his  strangely  confident 
but  often  effective  methods  of  combating  disease,  and  his 
uncanny,  persistent  way  of  looking  death  squarely  in  the 
eyes  and  holding  him  at  bay. 

As  a  mission  we  are  rich  in  doctors,  but  almost  desti¬ 
tute  of  medical  and  surgical  equipment.  Doctor  Sims, 
with  his  splendid  record  of  achievement  covering  a  third 
of  a  century,  is  our  senior  physician.  Up  and  down  the 
old  caravan  road  he  traveled,  from  his  headquarters  at 
the  Pool,  in  the  early  days  before  the  railroad  was  built, 
saving  many  a  missionary’s  life  when  living  in  the  Congo 
was  far  more  hazardous  than  it  is  now.  During  the  last 
sixteen  years  he  has  served  as  mission  treasurer  and  as 
business  agent  for  a  number  of  other  societies  working  in 
Belgian  Congo,  besides  conducting  a  very  large  medical 
practice  and  caring  for  the  Matadi  Church.  He  has  a 
convenient  and  good  little  dispensing-room,  but  no  hos¬ 
pital  accommodation. 

Doctors  Leslie  and  Lynch  have  each  a  quarter  century 
record  of  service  behind  them.  Doctor  Lynch  has  spent  all 
his  years  at  Mukimvika,  where  he  has  the  only  hospital 
worthy  the  name  in  our  mission.  His  services  have  been 
greatly  appreciated  by  his  numerous  Portuguese  patients, 
and  his  name  is  a  very  familiar  one  on  the  “  coast.” 
Doctor  Leslie  spent  many  years  at  Banza  Manteke,  where 
he  took  an  active  part  in  the  general  and  educational 
work  as  well  as  the  medical.  He  is  lovingly  remembered 
by  the  natives  as  the  good  physician,  mighty  hunter,  and 


Medical  Work 


25 


intrepid  traveler.  He  built  a  good  frame  dispensary  and 
the  little  two-room  corrugated  iron  shed,  which  by  cour¬ 
tesy  has  been  called  the  Banza  Manteke  hospital  all  these 
years.  From  Banza  Manteke  Doctor  Leslie  did  a  deal 
of  exploratory  and  pioneer  work.  For  several  years  he 
and  Mrs.  Leslie  lived  at  an  isolated  far-away  post  on  the 
Kwango  River  in  Portuguese  Angola.  The  medicine- 
chest  and  surgical-kit  often  proved  an  open  sesame  as  he 
sought  wayside  hospitality  among  hostile  and  cannibal 
tribes.  Five  years  ago  the  Leslies  opened  our  newest  sta¬ 
tion,  Vanga,  on  the  Kwilu  River,  a  week’s  steamer  trip 
above  Leopoldville. 

Doctor  Mabie,  who  soon  will  have  completed  her  second 
decade  of  Congo  service,  served  her  internship  with  Doc¬ 
tor  Leslie  in  the  Banza  Manteke  hospital,  and  for  many 
years  had  charge  of  the  medical  work  in  that  district. 
She  also  assisted  in  the  general  and  educational  work  of 
the  station  until,  in  1911,  she  became  a  member  of  the 
faculty  of  the  Congo  Evangelical  Training  Institution 
at  Kimpese,  believing  that  it  offered  greater  opportunity 
for  the  dissemination  of  such  knowledge  as  shall  help  the 
native  to  cope  more  successfully  with  his  health  problems. 
Classes  are  held  for  the  men  in  physiology  and  hygiene, 
special  emphasis  being  placed  on  town  sanitation,  source 
of  water  supply,  etc.  The  causes  of  their  more  common 
diseases,  and  sources  of  infection,  such  as  mosquitoes, 
ticks,  tsetse  flies,  infected  water,  etc.,  are  taught.  With 
the  women  there  are  more  intimate  studies  of  the  body 
and  its  functions;  the  physiology  of  gestation,  parturi¬ 
tion,  and  the  care  of  children  are  dwelt  upon.  The  large 
dispensary  practice  which  has  been  regularly  conducted 
at  Banza  Manteke  gives  plenty  of  clinical  material  for 


26 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


such  demonstration  as  is  profitable  at  this  stage  of  in¬ 
struction. 

Doctor  Ostrom,  who  recently  returned  to  Ikoko  to 
begin  his  second  term  of  service,  made  a  fine  record  dur¬ 
ing  his  first,  despite  the  fact  that  he  had  no  proper  equip¬ 
ment  ;  and  much  is  expected  of  him  in  the  future  develop¬ 
ment  of  our  upper-river  work.  Doctor  King  has  proved 
himself  an  invaluable  member  of  the  Banza  Manteke  staff 
during  his  first  term,  and  withal  is  a  jolly  good  fellow. 
And  so  we  are  six,  but  should  be  seven,  for  Sona  Bata 
must  have  another  doctor. 

The  Boards  recently  voted  to  equip  the  Congo  Mission 
with  four  new  modern  hospitals,  costing  four  thousand 
dollars  each,  and  to  be  located  at  Banza  Manteke,  Sona 
Bata,  Ikoko,  and  Vanga,  and  Doctors  Leslie  and  Ostrom 
succeeded  in  raising  the  necessary  funds  for  their  erec¬ 
tion  before  returning  to  their  stations  in  1916.  The 
women  are  seeking  for  six  fully  qualified  trained  nurses 
to  go  out  in  the  near  future  to'  assist  in  the  newly  planned 
medical  work.  Doctor  Mabie  also  is  to  have  a  little 
maternity  and  children’s  hospital  at  Kimpese  for  train¬ 
ing  purposes.  A  new  day  is  dawning  for  our  Congo 
doctors. 

Many  of  the  diseases  prevalent  in  our  own  country  are 
common  in  Congoland,  such  as  mumps,  measles,  whoop¬ 
ing-cough,  chicken-pox  and  smallpox,  bronchitis,  pleu¬ 
risy  and  pneumonia,  rheumatism  and  inflammatory  trou¬ 
bles,  besides  a  number  of  tropical  diseases.  Sleeping 
sickness  is  perhaps  the  best  advertised  among  the  latter. 
It  has  been  a  terrible  scourge  throughout  both  East  and 
West  Central  Africa.  Its  etiology  and  transmission  by 
tsetse  flies  has  been  determined.  No  treatment  yet  found 


Doctor  Mabie  conducting  a  baby  clinic  at  Banza  Manteke 


Medical  Work 


27 


is  very  satisfactory.  Smallpox  has  been  about  stamped 
out  of  the  lower  Congo  country  by  vaccination.  A  few 
years  ago  just  a  rumor  that  smallpox  was  devouring 
across  the  river  brought  crowds  for  six  or  seven  weeks 
to  Banza  Manteke  seeking  vaccination.  Such  a  howling, 
smelly  mob  I  have  never  before  or  since  been  engulfed 
among.  A  number  of  mothers  with  twin  babies  were  in 
the  crowd,  and  several  requested  that  little  images  tied 
about  baby  wrists  and  representing  dead  twins  should  be 
scratched  lest  the  spirits  of  the  dead  be  jealous  and  the 
remaining  children  die.  Twin  mothers  and  twins  are  no 
longer  driven  out  and  exposed  as  formerly,  but  many 
superstitions  still  gather  about  twin  births. 

Malaria  is  an  ever-present  menace.  Most  missionaries 
take  from  three  to  five  grains  of  quinine  daily  as  a  pre¬ 
ventive  measure.  The  native  children  have  invasion  on 
invasion,  and  many  deaths  result.  It  is  less  prevalent 
among  the  adult  population,  who  seem  to  have  developed 
a  partial  immunity  in  childhood.  The  white  man’s  dead¬ 
liest  foe,  hemoglobinuria,  or  black-water  fever  as  it  is 
commonly  called,  does  not  often  appear  in  the  native. 
Both  white  and  black  suffer  much  with  dysentery  and 
various  intestinal  infections.  The  natives  are  depleted  by 
the  ravages  of  hookworm  and  intestinal  parasites.  The 
death-rate  is  high,  infant  mortality  extremely  high ;  few 
live  to  be  sixty.  The  problems  which  the  medical  mis¬ 
sionary  faces  in  Central  Africa  are  appalling  and  test  his 
nerve  and  courage  to  the  utmost,  and  sometimes  almost 
daunt  his  optimism,  but  it  is  his  wont  to  keep  a  stiff 
upper  lip.  Missionary  furloughs  come  oftener  than  in  the 
Asiatic  missions,  for  there  are  no  hills  of  sufficient  height  1 
to  afford  a  yearly  recuperation  as  in  China  and  India, 
c 


28 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


White  children  may  not  be  kept  more  than  about  two 
years  in  the  country.  This  necessitates  the  leaving  of  all 
children  in  the  homeland  whenever  missionaries  return 
to  their  work,  and  is  one  of  the  most  serious  problems  of 
missionary  endeavor  in  Central  Africa.  It  is  not  a  white 
man’s  country,  and  it  is  imperative  that  we  should  raise 
up  a  trained  native  leadership  as  soon  as  possible,  who 
shall  lead  their  own  people  into  more  abundant  life. 

Thus  far  we  have  not  been  able  to  train  young  women 
as  nurses.  The  girls  all  marry  young,  and  if  widowed 
remarry.  The  trained  nurse  as  we  know  her  would  not 
fit  into  the  primitive  stage  of  civilization  existing  in  the 
Congo  town.  We  doctors  all  have  trained  boys  as  com¬ 
pounders  and  dispensers  and  general  assistants,  and  have 
found  them  invaluable.  The  wives  of  students  under  in¬ 
struction  at  Kimpese  for  three  years  seem  to  offer  the 
best  substitute  for  the  trained  nurse.  Their  husbands 
will  be  the  leading  men  in  the  district,  in  many  instances 
will  be  more  influential  than  the  chiefs  themselves,  and  as 
teachers  and  preachers  will  be  interested  in  the  general 
welfare  of  their  people  and  will  encourage  their  wives 
to  make  use  of  whatever  training  they  may  have  received 
in  first  aid  and  nursing.  To  give  them  as  much  training 
along  this  line  as  possible  seems  a  possible  temporary 
solution  of  the  nursing  problem  worth  trying. 

The  medical  missionary  is  splendidly  equipped  to  dis¬ 
sipate  the  fog  and  mists  in  which  the  animist  lives  and 
moves.  In  no  way  is  the  foolishness  of  superstition 
oftener  demonstrated  than  in  his  treatment  of  disease. 
Even  the  heathen  mother  who  wants  not  the  doctor’s  faith 
learns  that  quinine  cures  malaria  much  better  than  cutting 
and  burning  the  baby,  and  comes  for  medicine.  Many 


Medical  Work 


29 


who  would  not  otherwise  be  approachable  come  for  aid 
when  sick,  and  we  doctors  have  many  an  opportunity  to 
prescribe  for  spiritual  as  well  as  for  physical  indisposi¬ 
tions.  Humbly,  in  His  steps  who  went  about  doing  good, 
we  follow. 


CHAPTER  VI 


Is  It  Worth  While? 

The  long  hot  season,  when  for  many  months  the  mer¬ 
cury  had  registered  well  up  in  the  nineties,  and  frequent 
heavy  tropical  downpours  had  kept  the  atmosphere  satu¬ 
rated  with  moisture,  was  drawing  to  a  close.  Kimpese 
with  its  well-kept  lawns,  its  broad  paths  bordered  with 
citronella  grass  and  coconut-palms,  its  fine  roses  and 
flowering  shrubs,  never  looked  lovelier.  But  two  more 
weeks  of  the  school  year  remained,  and  everybody  was 
tired.  Old  Sol  had  been  up  for  a  half-hour  when  the 
six-thirty  bell  summoned  the  students  to  the  first  test  of 
examination  week.  Immediately  the  paths  were  alive 
with  men  and  women  hurrying  to  their  respective  class¬ 
rooms  and  teachers  scurrying  across  the  compound.  The 
session  had  been  a  good  one,  and  everybody  had  worked 
hard,  and  the  faculty  were  confident  that  most  of  the 
students  would  hand  in  good  papers. 

Prospective  students  had  begun  arriving  to  take  their 
entrance  examinations  the  next  day,  and  were  making 
the  most  of  their  opportunity  to  secure  medical  advice 
for  themselves,  their  families,  and  townsfolk.  For  days 
the  students  had  been  receiving  letters  from  their  home 
districts,  detailing  the  ailments  of  half  the  inhabitants  and 
charging  them  to  buy  medicines  from  the  doctor  to  bring 
home  with  them.  The  students  themselves  wanted  medi¬ 
cines  for  all  the  possible  sicknesses  which  might  super- 
30 


Is  It  Worth  While? 


3i 


vene  during  the  months  they  would  be  away  from  their 
doctor.  These  were  unusually  busy  days  for  the  tired 
doctor.  Twice  during  the  night  she  had  been  disturbed 
by  a  student  and  his  wife  with  a  baby  in  convulsions 
induced  by  improper  feeding  after  a  sharp  attack  of 
dysentery,  and  against  which  they  had  been  repeatedly 
warned ;  and  now  she  was  conducting  a  simple  test  in 
physiology  with  a  class  of  women  and  wondering  if, 
after  all,  it  was  worth  while. 

On  returning  to  the  house  she  found  a  little  group  of 
strangers  sitting  on  the  veranda  waiting  for  the  doctor. 
One  of  them,  a  big  fellow,  arose  and  offered  two  fowls. 
“  How  much  do  you  want  for  them?  ”  asked  the  doctor. 
“  They  are  a  gift,  nengua  dokuta.  Do  you  not  know  this 
woman,  my  wife?”  bidding  her  come  forward,  where¬ 
upon  I  recognized  a  little  woman,  a  stranger  who  several 
months  before  had  come  for  medicine  for  her  baby.  I 
had  suggested  the  removal  of  an  unsightly  tumor  from 
her  lip,  and  after  more  trouble  than  anticipated  had  sent 
her  back  to  her  man  decidedly  better-looking,  and  here 
was  a  bit  of  gratuitous  appreciation.  When  the  students 
had  gone  could  not  the  doctor  visit  their  town,  teach  them, 
and  heal  their  sick?  Would  they  provide  free  carriers 
for  her  and  for  her  loads?  Yes.  Well,  perhaps  next 
month.  The  rest  of  the  people  seeking  assistance  were 
sent  over  to  the  dispensary  and  told  that  after  attending 
station  prayers  their  needs  would  be  attended  to.  This 
was  the  doctor’s  morning  to  take  prayers,  and  scarcely 
time  for  eating  breakfast  remained  before  the  half-past 
eight  bell  rang. 

At  nine  o’clock  the  dispensary  opened  to  applicants 
from  the  district  round  about.  A  crowd  of  half-naked, 


32 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


dirty,  heathen  mothers  crowded  about  the  door  with  their 
sick  babies ;  there  were  children  with  yaws  and  itch  and 
other  skin  diseases ;  abscesses  needing  the  knife ;  men 
with  childless  wives  seeking  children  or  with  wives  whose 
children  all  die.  An  old  man  whose  excesses  had  stamped 
themselves  upon  his  face,  seeking  renewed  vigor,  is  given 
a  tonic  and  told  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  then 
pointed  to  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world,  and  assured  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  have  everlasting  life.  A  sorrowful  woman  whose 
eleven  children  had  all  died  in  infancy  sought  something 
to  preserve  her  unborn  child  alive  after  its  birth.  She 
was  advised  to  bring  the  child  immediately  it  appeared  un¬ 
well,  and  marveled  as  she  heard  of  the  divine  Shepherd 
who  carries  the  lambs  in  his  bosom.  The  white  woman 
said  she  too  might  go  to  him,  through  faith  in  his  name. 
Yes,  she  would  come  again  to  hear  more.  Would  her 
child  live?  Silently  the  doctor  commends  her  to  Him 
who,  seeing  the  multitude,  had  compassion  upon  them. 
Just  as  the  dispensary  is  closing  a  party  of  well-dressed 
natives  arrive  by  the  down  train,  wanting  immediate  at¬ 
tention  so  that  they  may  presently  return  by  the  up  train. 
These  are  able  to  pay  well  for  treatment.  It  strikes  noon, 
and  station  activities  cease  for  a  couple  of  hours. 

The  afternoon  brings  more  pilgrims  in  search  of  heal¬ 
ing,  also  its  duties  in  the  primary  division  of  the  practice 
school.  Out  of  fifty  beginners  eight  months  ago,  more 
than  half  are  reading,  writing,  and  doing  simple  combina¬ 
tions  up  to  ten.  Even  the  cunning  little  “  kindergart- 
ners  ”  know  a  few  words.  All  are  thinking  of  vacation 
and  home-going  these  last  days.  How  much  the  Chris¬ 
tian  environment  of  Kimpese  will  mean  to  these  children 


The  Children’s  Hour,”  conducted  by  Doctor  Mabie  when  on  an  itineration 


Is  It  Worth  While? 


33 


segregated  for  three  years  from  the  evil  associations  and 
open  wickedness  of  the  native  town,  only  the  future  will 
reveal. 

On  her  way  home  the  doctor  drops  in  to  see  a  new  baby 
down  in  the  student  quarters,  and  finds  the  happy  mother 
surrounded  by  a  group  of  student  wives  busily  picking 
open  squash-seeds,  shelling  peanuts  or  beans,  and,  like 
mothers  everywhere,  admiring  and  discussing  the  new 
baby,  telling  whom  it  looks  like,  etc.  Its  name  is 
Kiesi,  “  Joy,”  which  leads  us  all  to  reminiscencing.  Three 
years  before,  Mona  Meso  had  come  with  her  husband  and 
four  children  very  unwillingly.  Her  people  were  heathen 
and  greatly  opposed  to  her  going  so  far  away  from  home. 
Something  dreadful  would  surely  happen,  somebody  die. 
Save  for  the  fact  that  her  husband  could  not  enter  with¬ 
out  his  wife  and  family,  she  would  never  have  come. 
Just  as  they  were  beginning  to  adjust  themselves  to  the 
new  life  a  child  sickened,  and  despite  every  effort  in  its 
behalf  was  dying.  Early  one  morning  the  parents  came, 
saying  they  were  going.  With  difficulty  I  had  persuaded 
them  to  return  to  the  house,  where  we  sat  down  on  the 
floor,  the  mother  with  the  dying  babe  in  her  arms,  and  I 
trying  as  best  I  could  to  show  her  that  dimly  lighted, 
misty  pathway  that  leads  down  through  the  dark  valley 
and  on  and  up  to  the  gates  of  pearl,  the  path  that  never 
again  can  be  altogether  dark  to  us  who  have  seen  it  glow 
with  the  passing  of  our  Master’s  feet,  but  she  couldn’t  see 
it.  They  stayed,  and  we  buried  the  babe  with  a  hymn  and 
a  prayer.  Everybody  was  kind  to'  Mona  Meso;  the  wo¬ 
men  cooked  her  food  and  brought  her  wood  and  water. 
She  was  persuaded  to  bathe  and  wear  clean  clothing,  and 
within  a  few  days,  returned  to  classes.  All  through  the 


34 


Our  Work  on  the  Congo 


year  we  tried  to  help  her  grasp  the  verities  of  our  faith. 
On  her  return  to  her  town,  her  people  all  said,  “We  told 
you  so.  Of  course  you  will  never  return.”  But  she  did, 
and  the  next  session  another  baby  was  born,  and  another 
died.  There  was  nothing  said  about  “  going,”  and  they 
were  very  much  quieter  in  their  grief ;  the  valley  was  be¬ 
ginning  to  glow.  As  w-e  were  preparing  for  the  burial 
the  mother  said,  “  But  what  shall  I  say  to  my  people  ?  ” 
I  replied,  “  I  don’t  know,  Mona  Meso;  just  talk  to  them 
out  of  your  own  heart.”  On  her  second  return  to  her 
village,  all  her  relatives  and  the  townsfolk  came  out  to 
meet  her,  howling  and  wailing  as  those  who  go  to  a 
burial.  As  soon  as  she  could  she  stopped  them,  saying, 
“  Don’t ;  we  Christians  don’t  mourn  that  way.  Our  baby 
isn’t  dead.”  “  Isn’t  dead?  Where  is  it  then?  You  wrote 
us  that  it  was  dead.”  “  Yes,”  she  replied,  “  we  buried 
her,  but  she  is  not  dead.  Jesus  is  keeping  her  in  his  arms 
until  we  come,  and  so  we  do  not  cry  as  we  used  to  do.” 
Just  a  little  bit  of  heaven  had  gotten  into  that  poor  wo¬ 
man’s  soul  and  shone  through.  Wasn’t  it  worth  while, 
after  all  ? 

Commencement  week  with  its  senior  banquet,  class-day 
exercises,  stirring  Sunday  sermon  by  a  visiting  trustee, 
and  the  final  gathering  about  the  Lord’s  table  in  remem¬ 
brance  of  him  whose  we  are  and  whom  we  serve,  was 
over,  and  the  station,  seemed  strangely  silent  and  de¬ 
serted  save  for  the  dispensary  folk  who  kept  coming. 
The  call  of  the  wild  kept  stealing  over  the  hills  and  would 
not  be  silenced  until  bed  and  bedding  were  snugly  rolled 
in  their  ground-sheet,  chop-box  packed,  bath  filled  with 
dishes,  cooking  utensils,  etc.,  a  tin  trunk  filled  with  old 
clothes  and  some  colored  picture-rolls,  medical  and  surgi- 


Is  It  Worth  While? 


35 


cal  supplies  packed  and  the  old  hammock  tied  to  its  pole, 
and  the  last  night  spent  in  a  quiet,  comfortable  bed-cham¬ 
ber,  and  we  are  off  in  Indian  file  over  the  hills,  far  away 
from  the  routine  of  station  life.  In  God’s  great  out-of- 
doors  weariness  is  forgotten,  and  time  is  less  measured. 
Lunch  is  eaten  beside  some  wayside  stream,  while  we 
chat  with  the  carriers.  But  the  news  has  spread  that  the 
doctor  is  passing  this  way,  and  at  the  next  crossroads  a 
little  group  of  folk  in  need  of  medical  attention  is  met. 
The  carrier  with  the  medicines  is  behind,  and  while  await¬ 
ing  his  arrival  the  cases  are  diagnosed.  One  who  needs 
surgical  attention  is  advised  to  follow  on  to  the  night’s 
camping-place,  and  all  are  told  of  a  three  days’  halt  in  a 
not  distant  town,  where  some  special  meetings  are  to  be 
held  and  a  temporary  clinic  established. 

Before  sunset  the  bed  with  its  mosquito-curtain  has 
been  set  up  in  a  native  house,  the  chop-box  hung  beyond 
the  reach  of  ants,  and  over  an  open  fire  the  cook  is  pre¬ 
paring  “  chop,”  while  his  mistress  is  looking  up  the  in¬ 
valids  tucked  away  in  little  dark  smoky  grass-huts.  After 
supper  all  gather  out  under  the  stars  for  a  little  meeting. 
After  a  few  gospel  songs  and  a  prayer,  the  teacher  says, 
“  Tell  us  the  story  of  Elijah  and  the  idolaters.”  So  we 
tell  them  the  ancient  story,  tell  it  as  though  the  lonely 
prophet  might  have  been  a  Congo  man  of  God  left 
stranded  in  some  backward  lapse  of  his  people  into  old 
heathen  customs,  till  they  see  him  standing  alone  with 
God,  over  against  him  the  erring  people  and  their  false 
teachers.  How  eagerly  they  listen  as  the  story  ap¬ 
proaches  its  climax !  Truly  the  Lord  he  is  God,  they  echo 
with  Israel’s  hosts.  Perhaps  it  had  seemed  to  some  of 
them  that  they  “  only  ”  remained  true  to  the  Lord  God, 


36  Our  Work  on  the  Congo 

and  the  old  story  renews  their  faith  and  courage.  Fol¬ 
lowing  the  meeting  there  would  be  matters  of  various 
sorts  that  the  teacher  and  his  wife  had  been  waiting  to 
talk  over  with  the  missionary. 

After  a  night  disturbed  by  mosquitoes,  crying  babies, 
dogs  baying  at  the  moon,  pigs  and  goats  nosing  and 
prancing  about  the  town,  it  is  time  for  the  early  morning 
town  prayers  after  which  the  school  must  be  inspected, 
then  breakfast  with  the  little  children  standing  shyly  at 
a  distance  watching  the  strange  white  woman  eat.  I  have 
never  found  the  villagers  discourteous  or  unduly  familiar, 
and  having  traveled  hundreds  of  miles  with  native  car¬ 
riers  of  various  sorts,  have  never  known  them  to  be 
guilty  of  rudeness,  and  have  often  wondered  at  their  con¬ 
sideration  for  my  welfare.  After  breakfast  the  medicine- 
chest  is  opened,  and  people  with  bottles  begin  to  gather 
about  the  dispensing-table,  usually  more  than  enough  to 
last  until  dinnertime.  After  a  couple  of  hours’  rest,  per¬ 
haps  with  a  good  story  for  diversion,  the  children  must 
have  a  story.  As  some  lesson-roll  pictures  are  shown,  per¬ 
haps  of  Daniel  and  his  three  stanch  companions,  the  boys 
and  girls,  all  eyes  and  ears,  hear  of  the  boys  who  dared 
endure  for  the  sake  of  the  Name.  Until  the  missionary 
brought  them  such  stories  provocative  of  courage  and 
high  resolve,  they  had  been  without  all  such  inspiration 
which  has  counted  so  much  in  the  development  of  Chris¬ 
tian  character  among  us.  There  may  still  be  time  for  a 
little  talk  with  the  women  before  they  begin  getting  sup¬ 
per,  and  then  another  evening  meeting  for  all.  The  next 
day  camp  is  made  in  another  town.  In  the  third  it  has 
been  arranged  to  gather  the  Christians  from  all  the  sur¬ 
rounding  towns  for  a  two  or  three  days’  conference,  with 


Is  It  Worth  While? 


37 


three  Bible  lessons  a  day,  besides  attending  to  their  sick. 
If  ever  the  servant  enters  into  fellowship  with  his  Lord 
as  he  saw  the  people  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd,  it  is 
when  on  such  an  itineration  as  this  out  among  our  Congo 
villages.  Two  or  three  weeks  of  such  holidaying,  and 
home  with  its  promise  of  a  good  hot  bath  and  quiet, 
comfortable,  airy  bedroom,  to  say  nothing  of  the  privacy 
of  one’s  own  breakfast-room,  looks  good  to  the  doctor. 
Life  has  regained  its  zest,  and  it  all  seems  so  very  much 
worth  while  that  she  only  wishes  she  could  multiply  her¬ 
self  by  a  half  dozen,  all  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  disin¬ 
terested  service  among  the  Lord’s  black  sheep. 


i 


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